Turning the Page

On the eve of the vernal equinox, a hike in Promised Land State Park in Pennsylvania produced several images of the lingering beauty still present in the winter forest. Before assuming the headlong rush into spring, take time to savor a backward glance at the passing season’s retreat.

Soon we will see increasing evidence that spring and its fevers are upon us and the whole of the natural world. This is a wonderful time to begin a nature journal. A longtime tool of the scientist and naturalist, nature journals have entered the realm of the everyday observer. You needn’t possess the skills of an artist; there are plenty of guides to get you started (“The Art of Field Sketching,” by Clare Walker Leslie, is a good resource). The only essentials are a notebook, a pencil and an interest in examining the wonders of the natural world.

The American Nature Study Society (ANSS), North America’s oldest environmental education organization, recently published an issue of its journal, Nature Study, devoted entirely to the craft of nature journaling. Guest editor Mark Baldwin explains that “The more you do it, the more wonderful—and puzzling—your world will become … Your fine-tuned sense of wonder and curiosity will lead you along a path of personal discovery and life-long learning.”

ANSS president Steve Melcher lauds the practice of nature journaling as a means of developing skills of observation and reflection while reducing our increasing disconnection from the natural world. “One way to reconnect to the world of nature, with wonderful confirmation that can be revisited from time to time, is to keep a nature journal.”

The current issue of Nature Study is packed with resources for the practice of journaling as well as exercises to engage children in the process. Purchase copies at the Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC), R.R. 2, Box 1010, Dingmans Ferry, PA 18328. Membership in ANSS includes a subscription to the journal. For more information call Flo Mauro, PEEC’s director of education, at 570/828-2319.